In the process of enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1962, the recruiter asked me which career choices I would prefer.  Being a naive seventeen year old kid, I selected several areas that looked interesting, and headed off to face the rigors of Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas.  Upon graduation from basic training I learned that despite my wishes, the Air Force had different plans for me, assigning me to something called Air Force Intelligence.  And, no, that is NOT an oxymoron.

My training for this assignment took place at several locations, and covered a range of topics and processes I would need to master in my new job.  We were made to understand the delicate and secretive nature of the work we would be doing, with specific and repeated emphasis on security.  Needless to say, I never doubted that security violations were taken very seriously and, if I remember correctly, mention was often made of Leavenworth, the maximum security military prison in Kansas.

As one might imagine, this trip down memory lane has been stimulated by the recent spate of widely publicized cases involving mishandled sensitive and highly classified government documents.  As a matter of fact, if reports are accurate, some of the national secrets put at risk by these breaches involve plans outlining strategies our military might employ in the event of military attack on the United States.

Let me say that again … it has been reported that these outrageous security failures could have revealed and endangered military plans for the protection of the United States.

Clearly, my personal umbrage here flows from my experience as both a military veteran with a respect for national security, and as an American citizen.  Beyond that, though, my outrage is made even more intense by the fact that my grandson is in the military meaning that, for me and any other citizen with a loved one serving to protect us, this is more than a mere academic discussion.

When all is said and done, it matters not in the slightest whether secret government documents were mishandled by a low-level enlisted Airman using sensitive information to impress friends in an internet chat room, or a former President displaying classified documents to dazzle big deal impresarios at a club in Florida.  Both of these malefactors must be taken to task and be made to answer for their actions.

Independent Special Prosecutor, Jack Smith, says it best:

We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone